Returning Home To A Strange Land: Eac Growth Through Trans-Border Migration

10.1163/ej.9789004164642.i-235.42

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Chapter Summary

The Eastern border of Congo is often troubled and refugees have both fled from and into Congo using the boundary to their advantage during times of unrest. This chapter demonstrates that international borders in Africa are as much conduits as they are barriers in the spread of Christianity. Utaratibu (liturgical and hierarchical order) and maendeleo (development) remained important needs for those identifying themselves as Anglicans as the Eglise Anglicane du Congo (EAC) expanded through trans-border migration. As a result of different historical circumstances, however, these identity signifiers were differently interpreted through the use of uhuru (freedom). In studying the identity of the northern EAC members through the development of chapels and the work of evangelists, it is clear that the continuities are carefully chosen and may not reach far into the past.